Today's Passage - Hebrews 12:3-8

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River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Hebrews 12:3-8 ...In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined - and everyone undergoes discipline - then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. In a marathon race, even though it's important to participate, it's even more important to finish the race. While we are running, we might encounter obstacles, some from ourselves and some from others. The author of Hebrews encouraged us to first persevere through the hardship, because we have not yet resisted to the point of shedding our blood. The believers in China often risk their lives for their faith. Some coworkers told me that when they enter China and saw local coworkers arrested, they would tell them to sit tight and lay low, not to rush out to preach the gospel. But the local coworkers would tell them unanimously: "it's no big deal, we're used to being arrested; each time we go out we're prepared to be arrested, and our family is prepared to never see me again." My heart is touched whenever I hear such sharing. Living in countries with personal liberty, no matter what difficulty we encounter here, there's no comparison with what the Chinese believers have to endure. They may even lose their life for their faith! Therefore, we must learn to persevere, and also trust that when we bring everything before the Lord all the hardship will eventually be gone. Bible also teaches that we need to learn to suffer for the Lord. Since the Lord suffered for us, we also need to follow His footsteps. When we think about this, our hearts will have peace; if the Lord can endure such tremendous suffering on the cross for us, we also must be willing to suffer for Him in our daily life. .  Next, we must value discipline, and we must be joyful when the Lord disciplines us, because we know that we belong to God. We discipline the children whom we gave birth to because we love them. In our life, when God disciplines and punishes us for our sins, we must be joyful. We ought to worry if God doesn't discipline us! God disciplines us because He still loves us and we belong to Him, so our hearts must be joyful when we are disciplined, and we may just turn back to God and look upon Him. May God's Spirit have mercy and grace on us; open our hearts to know His will, so that we will be delivered from bitterness. Pray with Pastor Tong Lord, we thank you because you are the Heavenly Father who loves us. You often use circumstances in our lives to train us, and you discipline us by putting us through hardship. We once again put ourselves in your hands, and we ask that you work in our lives according to your perfect plan so that your will may be satisfied. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen! River of Life Christian Church | office@rolcc.net | ROLCC Website

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